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Answer: The Tempest

For those of you who don't know it, I'll try to briefly explain the plot. The starship Albatross takes off on a routine survey flight, and the audience are passengers. We are introduced to Captain Tempest, Cookie, the ship's cook (obviously) and the science officer, a mysterious woman.

The ship is suddenly hit by an asteroid storm, during which the science officer escapes, taking the only escape pod, which is enough to arrest her for mutiny if she is caught. Then the ship is caught in a tractor beam, and is drawn to a mysterious planet. For more, see the 'Interesting Information' sections for the next few questions.

Answer: Sir Patrick Moore

The sight of Patrick Moore coming onto the video screen on stage always produces a huge laugh from the audience members that don't know it's coming, and cheering from those who do. And now, more plot. The ship lands on the mysterious planet, and is hailed by Doctor Prospero, a scientist who is well known, but thought to have gone mad and escaped from Earth for some reason. Prospero explains that the real reason he disappeared was because of his wife's treachery.

He had been developing a drug known as 'The X Factor', which triggers telegenesis, the power to create anything by pure thought alone. One day, in his lab, his wife, Gloria, held him up at gun point, hoping to steal the formula and the glory for herself.

She put him and his baby daughter Miranda on a rocket and shot them into space to die. Fortunately, they found a planet to live on, D'Illyria, the one onto which the Albatross has been drawn.

More later.

Answer: James Doohan

Otherwise known as Scottie from "Star Trek". More plot (it's quite long and complicated): After Prospero tells his story, his servant enters the ship. It is Ariel, a roller-skating robot. Then we are introduced to Prospero's daughter Miranda who is now 16. Cookie immediately falls in love with her, and believes she feels the same, because she kissed him on the cheek.

However, she falls for Captain Tempest, who rejects her because she is too young for him (although he is tempted by her). Prospero does not approve of Miranda's attraction to the captain, and disowns her over it. To be continued.

Answer: Wipeout

'Wipeout' is played as the ship 'takes off'. Plot continued (I told you it was long): Cookie is naturally disappointed by Miranda's love for the captain, and plots some sort of revenge. Meanwhile, Ariel is sent by Prospero to retrieve the science officer. Prospero is still outraged at the idea of Miranda and Captain Tempest together, and drinks his telegenesis formula as a way to calm himself down. Ariel returns with the science officer, and she turns out to be none other than Prospero's wife, Gloria.

At that moment, the ship's sensors detect a massive great big monster, which attacks the ship. And that's the end of Act 1. Don't worry, Act 2's a bit easier to explain.

Answer: She's Not There

This is the moment that every 'Planet' fan looks forward to. It always gets a bigger round of applause, cheering, whistling, etc. than anything else in the whole play, and once you hear it, you'll know why. More plot: Act 2 begins with a brief recap of what's just happened, starting from the moment Ariel brings the science officer, or Gloria as she is now known to be, back to the ship, and the monster attacks. Ariel is sent to get rid of the monster, which he manages to do, but Gloria warns the crew that it will return.

She is ignored and arrested for mutiny and for her attempt to kill Prospero 16 years ago. Cookie is set the task of being her guard. Not a good idea. She manages to convince him that she was trying to kill Prospero because she knew he would get out of control and use his telegenesis formula for evil.

She then makes a deal with Cookie: if he lets her go and steals Prospero's formula for her, she will tell him how to attract Miranda. Cookie agrees. TBC.

Answer: Cookie

In every cast, the guy playing Cookie just gets better. Phil Reed, the current one (or most recent as of 2004, anyway), is a guitar playing god! More plot: After Cookie makes his deal with Gloria, Miranda returns, dressed up in what she believes is a more mature and sexy way, in a desperate attempt to get Captain Tempest's attention.

However, he tells her that she has overdone it, and that he was attracted to her natural beauty. Cookie then attempts to steal Prospero's formula, and eventually Ariel ends up eating it.

At this point, the monster from the end of Act 1 returns to threaten the ship. Gloria explains to the crew the reason why the monster has returned. Remember Prospero drinking the telegenesis formula? It was because he was angry about Miranda being in love with the Captain, right? The anger he was feeling at the time he drank it created the monster, so as long as he still feels that anger, even subconsciously, the monster can not be destroyed. Nearly finished now.

Answer: Matt Devitt

Matt Devitt has since also been in many British TV shows, including the hospital drama "Casualty", and an appearance as a dog in an episode of "Red Dwarf" in which the crew get sucked into a parallel dimension and meet their female counterparts. Except the Cat, whose opposite is the dog. Anyway, last bit of 'Planet' plot coming up: After Gloria's revelation that the monster attacking them comes from Prospero's brain, a heart-breaking decision is made.

In order to save the ship, Prospero kills himself, because only by his death can the monster be destroyed.

However, D'Illyria was sustained by the good part of Prospero's mind, so once he commits suicide, it starts to explode as well. The Albatross manages to escape, Captain Tempest finally admits his attraction to Miranda and they get together, and Cookie is arrested for his part in the plot to steal the formula, but is pardoned.

Then they all have a big massive jam session. And that's the end. Sorry it took so long to explain.

Answer: Marilyn Monroe

She comes in wearing a gold version of the dress from 'The Seven Year Itch', the one in the famous picture of Marilyn on the grate. I have seen one version where she comes in as Olivia Newton-John from the end of 'Grease', but that was a production done by my college, and they did 'Grease' two years ago, so it was a decision based more on already having the costume than for any artistic reason. (Actually, the girl playing Miranda was the one who had played Sandy!)

Answer: telegenesis

As explained earlier, telegenesis is the power to create through pure thought.

Answer: Sarah Whittuck and Stuart Nurse

Yes, in a case of life imitating art, the actors playing Miranda and Captain Tempest (from the 1994 and 1996 tours) fell in love and got hitched, just like their characters. Just in case you're interested, Allison Harding played Gloria in the 1996 tour, Phil Reed was Cookie in 2001/2002, Sarah Beaumont was Miranda in 1999-2002, Frido Ruth played Ariel in 93/94 and 2001/02, Diana Croft was Gloria in 2001/02, and James Earl Adair played Prospero in 199-2002. If any of this has stirred your interest in this fantastic show, check out the official 'Planet' website at www.rttfp.com. Hope I've managed to satisfy any existing fans, and maybe inspired some new ones!